If in the third quarter of this year the announced sale of the US sneaker brand Skechers was to go successfully, this deal will be entered into history as the largest transaction in the area of the sneaker market so far. Why is Skechers so interesting?
Not cool, but the third largest sneaker fire in the world
So much in advance: With a global annual turnover of $ 8.9 billion in 2024 and an increase of twelve percent compared to 2023, Skechers is the largest sneaker fire in the world to Nike ($ 51 billion) and Adidas ($ 24 billion). The coolest sneakers brand has never been Skechers. Founded in California in 1992, Skechers have always been one of the brands that you might wear because they are comfortable and cheap, but you are rather not talking about. Something changed at short notice when Britney Spears became the Skechers campaign face around the year 2000 and the Sneaker Brand could benefit from the comet-like rise of the singer. If you want to attribute a certain cult status to Skechers today, then probably the models from that era.
3G Capital wants to pay $ 9.4 billion for Skechers
The fact that the Brazilian private equity company 3G Capital made a takeover offer of $ 9.4 billion for Skechers in May 2025 should therefore have been less due to the special radiance of the brand.
The success story of Skechers is actually based on having linked and consistently followed a comfortable concept of a comfortable, affordable product with an ambitious growth and sales strategy. 3G Capital still has no doubt about the success of this strategy: Despite the change from the listed company in private hands, the path taken should be retained. Robert Greenberg (85), founder and still CEO von Skechers, should remain on board and team, and the headquarters also remain in California. Likewise, the strategy – style, comfort and innovation at an affordable price – should also be continued unchanged according to the company. “Without the team that has the Skechers, the company would be significantly less worth it,”, for example, quotes WWD a banker.
Strong wholesale business and expansion of the branch network
Apparently Skechers did a lot right: with an estimated market share of 52 percent in 2024 in America and a global retail network of over 5,300 branches, including 592 in the USA, Skechers has an enormous market power. The company is represented in over 170 countries and has continuously gained market shares in both domestic and internationally in recent years. Not only in the competitive home market and in Europe, but also in markets that find less attention but are huge, such as Latin America. International sales (outside USA) accounted for 62 percent of total sales last year.
Economically cleverly the focus has also been on the Wholesale business in recent years. After market leaders such as Nike and Adidas have announced in the past to prioritize direct sales and reduce wholesale, the ranges of many shops that had to be closed were created. Skechers quickly adapted to changing conditions and could take over a large part of the Nike Business, writes the Modern Retail specialist magazine. In the first quarter of the Pandemie Year 2022, for example, wholesale grew by 33 percent worldwide, in the USA and EMEA by 40 percent, while direct sales could only be increased by 16 percent. At the same time, Skechers has massively expanded its retail network in recent years: from 2,570 stores to 4,170 shops in 2021, to 5,300 in 2025. The long-term goals are accordingly: The company is “on the way to 10,000 Skecher’s stores,” announced CEO Greenberg.
So Skechers is not sold out of a position of the weakness, but can be silvered much more. That should also be the reason why the takeover of many market observers: inside was described as “surprising”.
US customs policy has a forecast 2025
However, the trade war between the USA and China may have had a favorable takeover by 3G Capital. According to press reports, Skechers produced 40 percent of his shoes in China, where the US import tariffs should have been 145 percent this spring. At the end of April, Despite the new sales record in the first quarter, Skechers had withdrawn his forecast for the year and referred to “macroeconomic uncertainties due to global trade policy”. After all, not only the tariffs could have a negative impact on the calculation, but also higher prices as a whole caused a deterioration in US consumer mood, as well as an anti-American mood abroad, the thought. After the forecast withdrawal, the share price fell by more than 20 percent, but after the takeover announcement, a few weeks later climbed by almost 25 percent.
New growth field: performance
The fact that Skechers has worked intensively on its entry into the performance market in recent years should speak for the further positive development of the company. Anyone who has stood for comfortable everyday sessions with innovations for decades for decades is a logical development for them-even if Skechers enters the direct competition with Nike and Adidas. In 2023, the company rose in the high -sales football market’s launch and secured a strong brand ambassador to secure itself through the cooperation with Harry Kane, captain of the English national team and star of FC Bayern Munich. Kane wore soccer shoes from Skechers at the UEFA Euro 2024 on the field. This was followed by further debuts in the sports tobogganing and basketball as well as cooperations with running events, for example with the sponsorship of ATW running events in Great Britain.
With the opening of the first pure performance stores, Skechers entered the next phase. In January 2025, Skechers opened his world’s first “Skechers performance” flagship store in the Canadian city of Edmonton, followed in May the first European Perfoma Store in Ghent Belgian. There, the brand offers shoes, clothing and accessories for sports such as basketball, golf, football and pickleball on over 700 square meters.
Apart from the macroeconomic faults of the current global trade policy, all market participants are affected, the prospects of Skechers are still good. In view of the strong price increases in the sports market in recent years, the price -conscious positioning of Skechers could prove even more than an argument for future growth.